Living in the South, the confederate flag is everywhere. On the back of trucks, in yards, on shirts, belt buckles, and is even posted on Instagram. Everywhere. One time, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came upon a picture posted by one of my old friends who lives in South Carolina. What he posted left me speechless. It was a picture of the rainbow flag with words over it saying "we are allowed to fly this sh*t" and below the rainbow flag was another picture of the confederate flag with the words "but we can't fly this?". I commented my opinion on how I believed the rainbow flag stood for a lot more than just gay marriage, and how the confederate flag represents racism and oppression. Of course, a flood of replies came back from him and his friends stating I was wrong, dumb, need to go back to history class and many other comments that were much more hurtful. This caused a 300 comment long "fight" on his Instagram picture about beliefs and rights of people. I did absorb and attempt to understand their opinions but I still couldn't bring myself to share their negative beliefs. And here's why!
First, I believe the rainbow flag stands for much more than just gay marriage. It stands for equality among the people, raising each other up, and allowing each other to be who they want to be. Allow people to be people!
Second, for generations of groups of people, the confederate flag stands for oppression, racism, and putting people down. I have had many African-American friends tell me they feel threatened and hurt when they see that flag. I have seen videos of people taking them out of yards and out of trucks because it hurts them so much.
Third, some supporters are saying it's about being patriotic. If you are trying to be patriotic then let's fly the good ol' American flag instead. The confederate flag has seven stars going across both sides which stand for the seven states that were going to secede. That means breaking apart from America as a whole and creating their own union. This isn't patriotic. This is separatism.
Fourth, "It's Heritage, not Hate", a phrase you hear quite often when you ask why some people are supporters. I understand the background for calling the Confederate flag heritage, and I think most other people do as well. It is a part of the history of the south, it's a part of where we are today as states. But it is by no means, encompassing of all we are as the UNITED States of America in this day and time.
To create a kind of extreme example of what I am talking about that is a little more direct and much more understandable. You would not stand behind the Nazi flag. And why would you not? It's a part of their heritage, it's what brought them to where they are today. Right? But here is the difference, the people of Germany are embarrassed, and mortified of their past. It seems that the people today who support the confederate flag are not. But should we not, as a united people, be somewhat embarrassed???
Fifth and lastly, it does not matter what the flag originally stood for. It was to represent the seven southern states that were seceding. It was used in battle to show the side they were on, it didn't have a "harmful meaning" at the time. But it has grown over time into a symbol for hate. To tie into my previous example, the Swastika originally stood for "well-being" and "good fortune". Now it stands for the murder of millions, hate, war, and oppression. But the people no longer fly it anywhere. It is used as an artifact in museums to teach the younger generations about why it is not okay and to remember our history so we won't repeat the same mistakes.
It doesn't matter what it originally stood for, all that matters is what it stands for now.
I was very open to the boy and his friend's comments on his photo. I wanted to hear them out and see where they came from, but the opposite happened. I must say those comments consecrated my beliefs even more. We all need to be open to each other. We need to learn to love one another.
And this symbol stands for just the opposite. We are all people on this earth, so let's show it.
